I will carry you Home AKA Roads Untraveled
by Ziixx
Summary: During a scouting mission Captain Levi encounters something unexpected. An six year old Eren Ackerman who holds more than one deadly secret. Can the Levi protect the scouting legion's secret weapon? Or will his little brother fall to the hands of titan fearing men. Please review! Gets better as it goes! AU Brothers!
1. Chapter 1: Missing

**The new and improved chapter 1! Yay!**

 **As for those who are reading this for the first time, a few things you might want to know:**

 **-This story can be found in BOTH Shingeki no Kyojin and Attack on Titan Archives that's why there are two of them. (One being titled 'I will carry you home' and the other 'Roads Untraveled'.)**

 **-This is an AU story with a rather strong AU. It will become clear later on in future chapters when the plot starts waking up**

 **-I am not a native English speaker so please excuse my mistakes. I mostly earned English through books and TV. (I'm South-African)**

 **-Levi and Eren are brothers in this fic.**

 **-Yes both can get a bit OC because of changes in mental states, such as Eren being friendlier because of Petra's influence, his more easy going nature due to not having to bear things like his mother's death or having killed three men, his fearlessness towards titans (explained later) as well as some other things.**

 **-Eren is an Ackerman so he happens to have Ackerman skills to go with it (with the help of Levi of course.)**

 **-I have edited this story more than a couple of times so unfortunately its not at all as it used to be.**

 **-This story exists out of three arcs this one being the first, though I'm not sure if I'm going to post the rest since I've lost some interest in the show over time. Maybe it will start up again when I watch the second season...dunno depends on you guys and my determination to actually finish my first multi-chapter fic. Review me to let me know if you want more.**

 **-I have a chapter explaining Farlan and Isabel's part in this AU though I'm not going to post it since its uncompleted. They wont show up in this fic but they are alive. IF you want me to post the chapter tell me and I'll finish it.**

 **That is about all I can think of right now. Please Review!**

 **I hope you enjoy the fic!**

 **Disclaimer: If I owned SNK/AOT I would have made this happen or made an extra series where this happened.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Missing (20 June 2015)**

"Anything?"

"No sir. No sign of Captain Levi anywhere."

He nodded. "Alright keep looking. Your dismissed"

"Yes sir." The soldier saluted his ranking officer and walked off. Commander Erwin Smith couldn't help but sigh at his current predicament.

Captain Levi was nowhere to be found.

Three hours had passed since Levi had broken off from their squad to take down an abnormal and he still hasn't returned. Three hours is a long time, even for Levi. The commander groaned and looked to their temporary resting point. The bodies were already starting to stack up and the amount of injured scouts weren't exactly spectacular either. With the added problem of one of his most trusted and loyal subordinates being missing as well only adding to the pile. So far no one outside of the search and rescue squad knew officially about Levi's disappearance, however it was clear that quite a few have started to notice the captain's absence. It was likely that most of the soldiers had simply assumed that he had sent Levi off to relay some information. Those whom where close enough to have heard his orders though knew better. Even if he had sent Levi back to Trost, he would have returned by now...

He groaned and made a mental note to resurrect the man from the dead and kill him all over again if he had gotten himself killed out there. And an added note to kill the man anyway if he had made him worry unnecessarily.

...Levi. Were the hell are you?

 **-xXx-**

 _ **Meanwhile...**_

"So do you guys think the Captain is okay?" Gunter asked concerned, breaking the others from their worry induced state. No one wanted to think about it, but with every passing moment it became more likely that the Captain wasn't coming back. The situation had them all rattled. After all he was no ordinary soldier. They had noticed his failure to return shortly after he failed to rejoin the group after five minutes. They were getting worried.

And they weren't the only ones. The others have noticed as well, eventually, and the tension was growing by the minute...

"I'm sure he's fine." Petra insured him. "The Captain has fought plenty of titans. He's fine.." Although she was trying to be hopeful, Petra couldn't help but doubt her own words. The chances of anyone surviving, even the Captain, this long, alone is slim. "D-Do you think something happened to him? I mean, he's been gone quite awhile now."

The Latino man looked down. "I don't really know. I mean..." He groaned and laid his head in his hands. None of them wanted to think what Levi's disappearance implicated. The blond woman placed a hand on his shoulder simpiteticly.

"Don't worry. We're all a bit taken aback by the situation. I mean we've all known him for quite a few years now. Not nearly as long as the Commander, but long enough. We've lived together, fought together even cleaned together in Levi's case."

He snickered at that. The man's obsessive behavior towards cleaning was plainly obvious to everyone who knew him. And the team often joked about it when he wasn't around. "What I mean is it's only natural for us to start to feel like friends and I think, in the deepest darkest corners of his mind, he thinks so too."

He smiled weakly. "I'm still worried about him though."

Petra was about to reply when Oluo's obnoxious voice interrupted her. "Geez you guys are being so melodramatic."

"Oh, Shut up Oluo!" Petra snapped. "Some people actually care about the Captain here, unlike you."

She fumed. She was not going to take this shit from him now. He can pretend to be the Captain all he wants, but not **now**. Not when Captain Levi was still out there, possibly hurt, injured, or worse. She expected another snarky comment, but instead Oluo's face turned from his usual smug expression to a worried one as he dropped his act. He knew she was right so instead he sighed and sat down next to the angry blond. "Look. I'm worried too, but I have faith that where ever the Captain is, he's got it under control. No one can take down that short little bastard. Especially the Titans. He'd just slip right through their fingers."

His fellow colleges couldn't help but snort at that.

"Better not let the Captain hear you say that."Gunter joked.

"Look. If the Captain couldn't make it to old age, what chance do we have?" Oluo stood up looking at his colleges. "I can't let myself believe that he's dead. We can't be thinking about this right now. Having a clouded mind is not going to help the situation. We have to stay focused at the task at hand. Until then we have to stay sharp, after that we can worry all we want. We're not out of the woods yet." And with that he left to tend to his horse.

Even though Oluo's head was sometimes bigger than his brain, he really made sense some times.

Petra hated that.

But he was right. After a long silence, pondering the dark blond haired man's words, Gunter sighed in defeat. "Damn. I hate it when he's right." He stood helping her up.

She nodded in agreement. He bid her farewell walked over to the direction Hange and Eld stood, busy tending to the wounded. She brushed herself off and left to find something to do. The Captain's fine. They just have to have faith.

 **-xXx-**

Erwin's thoughts were interrupted when one of the subordinates tasked with finding the bodies of their fallen comrades came running. "Commander Erwin-" The scout heaved catching his breath first. "Sir we found something."

"What is it? Did you find him?" He did his best to hide his hopeful tone, but clearly he didn't try good enough. The soldier's head bowed in disappointment. "No...I'm sorry sir. We didn't."

At the news his heart sank once again, the feeling of dread inching back into his heart. He swallowed his fear. "What about a body? Anything?"

"Uh no sir, but we did find something...else. It was some kind of severed appendage, presumably a leg, found underneath a collapsed building. The rock it was under was too heavy to move so we couldn't make out much more about it, but with its size and the amount of blood found at the scene..It couldn't have been anything else than that of a small child..."

Confusion crept onto the man's face as he regarded the information. "...A child?"

"Yes sir. It still looked fresh as if it had been severed mere hours ago. But what would a child be doing out here? There's no way anyone can survive out here that long. Much less a child." Erwin frowned. He was right. This new information was indeed perplexing "Where did you find this?"

"In a wrecked building sir, not far from where the first black smoke signals was fired. Near Blackwood forest."

The man furrowed his brow in thought. That was where Levi broke off to fight the titan. First Levi disappears and then the fresh remains of what seemed to be a child has been found? The mission had been quite the mystery since the start. Surely Levi couldn't just have turned back, could he? If he had there had to be some valid reason for him to abandon protocol. Levi was never one to abandon his comrades. And then there was the child. How the hell would a child find its way out here?! There's no way one could just have snuck out of the gates when no one was looking. The chance of him being a survivor of the breach two years ago even less so. With both mysteries on his mind the commander turned back to the obediently waiting scout. "Tell the men to finish up. We leave for Wall Rose in ten minutes."

The man responded with a salute, running off in the direction of the other scouts, barking orders. Maybe just maybe he was right and Levi was back there waiting for them. He tried to lock away in his confusion and worry for the moment. He had to concentrate on his men for now. Within minutes the remaining men had packed up and started on their way. All of them eager to return home, but equally conflicted about returning when their fallen comrades never could. All while pondering the new mysteries on their path.

* * *

 _ **Don't worry not all the chapters are this terribly SHORT! XD**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 **-Ziixx**

 _(updated: 21 November 2015)_


	2. Chapter 2: Family Ties

**Chapter 2: Family Ties**

 ** _At Trost..._**

Saying that Captain Levi's premature return had caused quite the ruckus was, perhaps, an understatement.

When the mysterious man, drenched in blood, came through the gates of Trost with the absence of his cloak, most had expected the worst. Rumors spread like wild fire and much speculation was made, the people of Trost only knowing that, for the first time ever, Humanity's Strongest Soldier returned from a mission appearing to be injured, only emphasized by the fact that he requested a doctor to meet him at the old Scouting Legion's headquarters - a doctor whom was sworn to secrecy by Levi.

So when the Scouting Legion, Commander Erwin included, finally returned, the latter had no problem finding out from the nearest soldier about Captain Levi's current situation. At first, he was relieved, then he was worried and then he was just plain mad. He couldn't have been that injured if he was able to ride back... And why did he not just send a smoke signal?!

By the time he had reached the castle, he simply couldn't wait to get an answer from the smaller man. And by the blood on his blade, he was going to get one. He stormed through the castle halls and burst through the door of the Captain's quarters, effectively ignoring the doctor's protests.

"LEVI YOU SON OF A- Where the hell have you been!?"

The raven-haired man before him merely sat calmly on a chair next to his bed, his narrow eyes never leaving it despite the other man's outburst, seemingly devoid of all emotion.

"I apologize for concerning you."

"Concerning me?! I thought you were dead!"

"I'm fine."

Sure enough, the man seemed to be of perfect health even though his clothing was stained with a rather large amount of dried blood. The Commander calmed himself for a moment - everyone knew the younger man had a serious problem with OCD and normally, wherever he went, things were always squeaky clean, yet he still haven't moved to clean himself up. This made the Commander stop his coming anger-fueled rant and think for a moment.

Suddenly, he became aware of the uneasy feeling in the room. One he hadn't felt for a very long time...

"Levi...What happened out there?"

The man didn't reply for a moment. Instead his thoughts drifted to the events only hours prior to this point...

 ** _-(FLASHBACK)-_**

 _Levi cleaned his bloodstained hand in annoyance._

 _He hated when that happened.._

 _With a high pitched whistle, he called his horse to return. It was time to leave. That is, if the smoldering corpse behind him, had any indication. If he left now he would easily be able to catch up with Erwin and the others. He brushed off his jacket, getting rid of some of the remaining blood and grime left over from the titan as he prepared himself to leave..._

 _Gkrk..._

 _He froze when a_ _sound coming from nearby attracted his attention. He listened attentively for the sound._

 _Had he heard right?_

 _It couldn't have been a titan. The area is too wide open for it to be. He would have seen it coming. He cast a wary eye in the direction of the nearby wreckage._ _He remembered the building being crushed when he had struck down the Titan._ _The sound seemed to come from there._

 _Curiosity overtaking logic, he took a step towards the demolished building_ _,_ _to where he thought he had heard the sound_ _, careful not to step anywhere that might cause him to lose his footing. All while keeping a sharp eye out for any new unwelcome guests._

 _There it was again..._

 _The sound._

 _To his left. This time he recognized it. His heart beat picked up. It sounded like a moan._

 _'_ _Did someone follow me and g_ _e_ _t trapped under the debris?'_

 _With new resolve he started s_ _earching the corpse of_ _rock_ _and_ _stone, unsure what to think._ _As he drew closer, the sounds grew fainter, but_ _now he was_ _sure of it._ _Somehow, somewhere s_ _omeone was trapped underneath_ _all_ _the rubble, of that he had no doubt. However by the sound of it, if he didn't find them soon they won't last much longer. He scowled when the sounds ceased. Who ever made them must have passed out from the pain._

 _That's when he saw it..._

 _A hand._

 _Only big enough to be that of a small child, sticking out from under a collapsed wall. The Captain didn't hesitate to rush to the child's side, heaving the rock off of the groaning adolescent boy in one big effort_ _..._ _._

 _It was a gruesome sight._

 _Even for the much respected and feared Corporal, this was not something anyone could be prepared for, highly experienced soldier or not._

 _A young boy, appearing to be no older than six or seven lying in the rubble._ _Blood gushing out from a rather nasty looking head wound. His left arm_ _was_ _bent at an angle that it was plain to see that it was broken in the collapse and his clothing(which seemed far too small for him) was ripped to shreds. Thankfully the boy seemed to be alive. The only indication of that, being the steady rise and fall of his chest every so often. Even so, his breathing was shallow_ _and strained_ _._ _A possible sign of a few badly broken ribs._

 _The boy's_ _most concerning injury though, was much worse_ _than a few broken ribs_ _._ _His_ _entire leg from his knee down, was crushed by the building during the collapse. If he was awake at the time, this happened he would have surely been in a lot of pain._

 _He was lucky he was alive._

 _Wasting no more time, Levi took off his cloak, ripping it in two and wrapping the one piece around the severed limb tightly in order to prevent any more blood loss. The other piece was used to make a temporary splint for the boy's broken arm. At this rate the child would bleed out before he even reached Wall Rose. Not to mention there was no telling how much blood he had lost already being trapped under the building. Once in Trost_ _,_ _Levi could get the boy the medical attention he needed. But for now his makeshift compromises would have to do. Making sure he had stopped most of the bleeding, with the boy's arm safely secured to his body, he carefully lifted him from the wreckage._

 _He was surprisingly light despite what he believed the boy would weigh_ _._

 _His attention was drawn away when he heard the sound of his horse galloping over to him, having heard his call. He scratched the animal on its nose as a sign of praise for it's return and mounted the beast's back, holding on tightly to the tiny child in his arms_ _-n_ _ow wrapped in his blood stained jacket. He stole one last glance at the direction the rest of the scouts had gone._

 _He was probably going to get into trouble for disobeying Commander Erwin's orders but at the moment he couldn't care less. The man would understand once he had explained the situation to him. Whether or not the higher ups would feel the same way though, was uncertain. But alas he would jump off of that bridge when he comes to it. They will be fine without him for awhile. Right now he had bigger things to worry about._

 _H_ _e commanded his horse to turn around and started riding at full speed back in the direction of Wall Rose..._

 ** _..._**

Levi blinked choosing his next words carefully. He did after all, disobey orders.

"An unexpected situation arose and I made a judgement call."

It was a valid reason albeit not a clear one- his attention though never left the bed in front of him, despite his thoughts. Erwin sighed and moved over to him. Suddenly, a movement underneath the blankets caught his eye, startling him.

 _Were they not alone?_

A mop of messy dark brown hair stuck out from under the blanket. The figure shuffled around a bit before settling back in its place again; back in its peaceful slumber. Perplexed, the blond man moved closer. Now, he was able to see that it was a small boy- he had little chubby cheeks made up of baby fat which he would grow out of one day, tiny freckles barely noticeably dotting his cheeks and a slight blush on his otherwise extremely pale skin.

"He's lost a lot of blood." Levi spoke up. "Doc says he will probably be out for another week or so. Still, I have my doubts."

"Where did you find him?"

His voice sounded hoarse when he asked. So this is why Levi left? He crouched down to the bed's level, eyeing the sleeping child.

"He was in a building the titan I was fighting fell on. He broke his arm, sustained a minor concussion, a few broken ribs and his leg was severed when the building came down on him.

Erwin understood this, his previous anger soon replaced by understanding- Levi had done the right thing. "One of the scouts found a severed leg in the wreckage. I believe it belonged to him, then?"

The man simply nodded- the room was left in an awkward silence one again. Only then did the Commander notice the small golden object being twirled in the man's hands.

"What do you have there?" He asked, gesturing to the trinket in Levi's hands. Levi looked down for a moment as if to ponder the question, before he handed the man the object.

"A key?"

"The doctor found it around his neck when she was cleaning his wounds." He paused for a moment, staring at the key.

"I gave that to him a long time ago. I never thought I'd see it again."

It took him a moment to register what Levi had said before realization sank in.

"You knew him?"

Levi lowered his head down again, brushing a hand through his hair.

"We were...brothers."

...Brothers? Erwin looked to the man in utter shock.

"I thought I recognized him the first time. I just wasn't sure whether or not I was right, but when I saw the scar and the key, I knew it was Eren."

"...How?"

"Two years ago, my parents were concerned for his health- he was abnormal. Sometimes it almost seemed as if he was dead. So they snuck him out of the underground, there wasn't enough money for all of us so I stayed behind with my mother. At the time there was only one doctor who wouldn't just have sent them back."

"Yeager..." Erwin quickly caught on. Levi nodded.

"During Shiganshina my father was killed and my brother went missing. My mother was already dying from lack of sunlight. She didn't have long. When we heard what happened...it was too much for her. I was nineteen at the time and Eren was four."

He opened his mouth but the man silenced him before he could say anything. "Its all ancient history. This is all just a bit...unexpected."

He nodded in understanding- the situation was indeed a lot to take in, especially if this implies that said little Ackerman had to have survived outside the walls all this time. How exactly that's possible though, only heaven knows.

Levi stood, gesturing for Erwin to come closer. "There's something you should know, but at least for now I need you to keep it between us."

"Alright, but what can-"

"Just trust me. Please, Erwin."

He hesitated for a second. "...Alright. I'll trust you."

"Well...When I saw this, I didn't know what to think." He took hold of the edge of the blanket covering the boy. "I think this might have to do with why he was able to survive for so long- it was also one of the reasons that my parents took him to Yeager."

With one swift movement he pulled the blanket off of the boy. Erwin's eyes widened in astonishment- he could have sworn the soldier said that the entire leg was severed, yet low and behold the half of the boy's leg was there, a bit pinkish and raw but there.

Slowly but surely he could see the skin crawling over muscle and muscle weaving its way around the slowly growing bone.

"He's regenerating...Like a titan!"

"Eren always healed fast, but this... I never thought that it could go this far."

"If Hange saw this she would want to pin and prod him like those two 'pet' titans of her. What where their names, Chickihilo and Albert?"

"Which is why we are going to keep it a secret. At least for now. We don't want the central government sniffing up our asses just yet." Levi was being completely serious. Erwin did not have much of a choice. Though he's the ranking officer, this was a personal matter. Even if he did refuse and went to his superiors about this, Levi would find a way to protect the boy from harm's way regardless.

It was a funny thought. Levi had not even been with him for a day and he was already turning into a overprotective big brother.

"Alright. We keep it a secret for now. But, if the situation calls for it, the secret's out."

Levi nodded in agreement.

"We will speak more about this later. Right now you need to go take a shower and get some sleep. You look like shit. And that's an order Captain."

He snorted, a little bit of emotion only seen by the Captain's closest friends.

"Yes sir."

The Commander watched as his friend left to get cleaned up. He stole one last glance to the sleeping boy in the bed. From now on out nothing will ever be the same.

* * *

 _ **I hope you enjoyed! Please Review!**_

 _ **Until next time!**_

 **-Ziixx**

 _(Last Updated: 22 November 2015)_


	3. Chapter 3: Nightmares

**Chapter 3: Nightmares (24 June 2015)**

 ** _The next morning..._**

As always, in the morning, the dining hall was alive with the rumbling noises of its occupants. One didn't need to hear what they were saying to know what they were talking about. By now, everyone had heard about Captain Levi's safe return and was feeling silly for ever being concerned in the first place. However, the question of the day now was- Why did he suddenly abandon the mission?

At the moment, Oluo was busy teasing Petra for being so soft-centered. "Petra, dear, you shouldn't have gone into such drama!" He mocked, batting his eyelashes.

"Watch it, Bozado. I can still cut you into ribbons!" She laughed, taking a sip of her drink."I still can't believe we had so little trust in the Captain, though. I mean, he's the Captain- of course he's fine!"

It was nice to know that they were just paranoid. They hadn't seen the Captain themselves yet, but then again, no one but Commander Erwin has.

"Yeah, I know. It's terrible." Gunter thought for a moment. "Do you guys think... something happened?"

"What? Like the appearance of the Colossal? Or the Armored? I think that's a bit too far-fetched, my friend." Oulo replied, bringing the cup back to his mouth. "Besides, no one can take out Levi..." He murmured to himself.

"Yeah, can't help but agree with that first one. But then, even Captain Levi can't take those two on- It must have been something else."

Suddenly, the entire room fell deathly silent. In fact, the atmosphere was so thick that you could've cut it with a knife. Levi's squad looked around frantically to find the source of the disruption. Sure enough they found it. There at the door stood Captain Levi, looking like he did everyday...

Pissed off at the world.

Gunter nearly spit out his drink, Oluo almost choked and Petra dropped her knife. Calmly, he walked over to their table holding what appeared to be a new cloak and a teacup. He sat down and murmured a greeting like usual, as if nothing had happened the day before. The team, shocked, couldn't even mumble their replies. It was Petra who found her words first, stuttering. "C-captain... You're okay..."

"I am." He replied calmly, causing great surprise, as if he did not even register it.

"Sir. We heard that you were... wounded when you first got back." Gunter could have sworn he was told that the Captain was severely injured, not just a simple cut. In fact, the amount of blood the soldiers at the Garrison described was enough to leave Captain Levi in a near death state and yet, here he was, with barely a scratch.

The man in question took one big long sip from his green tea, taking his time and teasing the anxious people surrounding him, waiting for an answer. Finally, he spoke. "That is true, but who said it was I who was injured?"

Murmurs broke out at this, mimicking a beehive.

"Was it a Titan?!" Someone asked out of the blue.

Levi sighed and put down his tea in annoyance- he knew he wasn't going to get to enjoy his tea in peace and quiet, not after what happened yesterday. Yes, they deserved an explanation, but that didn't mean he had to give it to them straight away.

"What happened yesterday had nothing to do with the titans- my disappearance was for personal reasons, and that is all I wish to say about it."

With that, he took one last sip of his tea and stalked out of the room, probably to go clean something to ease his annoyance, leaving the Scouts to their confusion once more.

 **-xXx-**

 ** _Later that day, just before sundown..._**

He didn't know when he had fallen asleep- maybe at some point between cleaning his bookshelf and checking on the boy. Well, whenever he did, next thing he knew, he found himself fast asleep with his arms on the bed. Eren had been asleep for most of the day- the doctor had said that he would be out longer due to the severity of his injuries, but with the knowledge of the boy's incredible healing abilities, there really was no telling of how long he would be out. Commander Erwin had stopped by once or twice since their last talk. Both had come to the conclusion that the boy was Levi's responsibility- not only was he Eren's last living relative but he was also the one who found him in the first place.

So, in simple words: Eren was his problem.

Eventually though, after a good sum of convincing, Levi had managed to get the Commander to let Eren stay with him at the Castle. Then it wasn't really as if he had much of a choice. Levi stayed wherever they deemed as their headquarters, partly to keep an eye on the cadets who also stayed there and mostly because he didn't have a house.

He was woken from his sleep by the stirring of the blankets beneath him. He looked over to see Eren twisting and turning in his sleep, whimpering as he did so.

He was having a nightmare.

Eren suddenly shot up screaming. Within seconds, he was on the bed holding the boy tightly in his arms, whispering words of reassurance. Eren was clutching tightly to his chest, staining his shirt with fresh tears.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here." Levi repeated over and over. He was still a bit rusty on the whole brother thing, so he started doing the one thing that always seemed to calm Eren down- drawing circles on Eren's back, as he had done years ago, before Shiganshina. He continued with this action for a long time. Eventually, the weeping boy started to calm down, having realised that he was indeed in safe hands. His crying slowly turned from frantic sobbing to a sob every now and then and eventually to a soft whimper. Levi decided it was safe to speak.

"Nightmare?"

The boy looked up; his big green eyes were still red from crying. Levi could have sworn he saw a slight glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Eren stayed silent for a moment before nodding. Levi ran a hand through Eren's chocolate coloured hair- the boy made no protest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

A single sob escaped Eren's mouth as memories of his terrible slumber-induced ordeal rushed back to him. He buried his face in Levi's shirt and shook his head.

"Maybe later, then..."

After Eren had calmed down completely, Levi had shifted himself into a more comfortable position and Eren was gradually starting to fall asleep again. Levi was thinking about the recent events of the last two days when a sound coming from his chest interrupted his thoughts.

"Thank you, Levi."

He couldn't hide his surprise. "You remember me?"

Eren shifted his head so he could smile at his older brother. "Levi..."

Eren hugged him tight, the smile on his face never leaving him, and made himself comfortable again under Levi's arm. Levi couldn't help but return the gesture. Eren remembered him- the thought warmed his heart. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that he would get his little brother back and now he had.

It wasn't long before both Ackerman brothers were lost in peaceful sleep, both wearing identical smiles. That's how Erwin found them- Eren on top of Levi, holding on tightly to his shirt, creating a drool pool (which we all just know Levi's gonna appreciate when he wakes up! XD I'm evil...), and Levi's arm on Eren's back. The strangest thing was the genuine smile on the usually stoic man's face.

He did look strange when he smiled. Well, it looked like Hange won this bet. The older man grinned, shook his head at the otherwise adorable scene and closed the door. He could talk to Levi later.

* * *

 _ **So finally I started updating the updated Chapters again! Some of you may know that I had gotten a new laptop recently, unfortunately though it didn't have word on it and I had to go looking for it on the internet. Eventually I found it. Not the version I'm used to, but good enough to be able to write again. Learning for my Drivers licence and passing grade 10 has got me very busy. We don't have summer vacation in my country by the way so I'll update when I get the chance. Please review!**_

 _ **Until next time!**_

 **-Ziixx**

 _(Updated: 13 December 2015)_


	4. Chapter 4: The New Ackerman (Part 1)

**Chapter 4: The New Ackerman** (the first chapter I wrote a very long time ago..)

 ** _A week after Eren was found.._** _._

In the past week Eren had fully recovered, his severed leg included. It had grown back completely to its original state leaving only a light scar where it had been ripped off. Meanwhile Levi had bought him some new clothes as well as some toys and crayons to draw with-Crayons he used to "liven up" the man's office walls. Something Captain Levi appreciated very much. So much that he spent hours vigorously scrubbing them.

But even vandalizing Levi's walls eventually became tedious for the boy and so, the quest in search for excitement commenced. Unknown to him a certain scientist and special operations scout we're heading his way as they argued about Hange's 'experiments'...

"...All I'm saying woman is that you treat those things like badly behaved pets!"

"Because they are!"

The man groaned in frustration. He was just about to retort when a small figure at the end of the hall caught his eye. "HEY KID! How'd you get in here!"

Eren did not have any time to react.

"Awww! He's so cutttteeeeee!" The woman bolted to his side.

"Hange! What are you doing! How did he even get in here!" The man protested.

The woman, now identified as Hange, grabbed Eren and pulled him into a bone crushing hug, squashing his insides. Maybe he should have ran.

"Oh shush! Look at this adorable little face." She released him. "Hay there buddy! Are you lost?"

He shook his head. He didn't know where he was going, but he definitely wasn't lost.

"Well then are you looking for someone?"

"Levi."

"Levi!" The man, now referred to as 'Rat's nest' exclaimed. Eren didn't like him very much. He was too full of himself. "Sorry kid, but humanity's strongest soldier isn't all that he's cracked up to be. Who knows?- If he finds you here he might just eat you!"

"Oluo!"

"What?! He might!"

The bickering duo were far too distracted to notice the subject of their argument approaching them from behind.

"Eren."

At the sound of his name he perked up looking for the source.

"Levi!"

The boy wormed his way out of Hange's arms and shot over to his bigger brother. Levi placed him on his hip.

"Captain Levi! Sir-" Rat's nest flustered.

He silenced him with a gesture and looked down at the boy in his arms. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares again?"

He buried his face in Rouge. Levi had made him the sock puppet shortly after he woke, using his limited knowledge of sewing and a few spare socks. How the thing didn't smell was a mystery. Then again he was Levi.

"Nightmares is nothing to be ashamed about Eren" He lifted the boy's chin so that he faced him, wiping away a stray tear from his cheek. "Nightmares tell us who we are and what we are afraid of. It gives you a chance to face your fears."

Eren's face turned into a small smile.

"And besides," He continued. "You have rouge to chase them away."

Levi grabbed the sock teddy and 'magically brought it to life, making him squeal in laughter. Levi smiled on the inside and put him back down. He ruffled his hair making Eren giggle. "Come on, I'll take you to your room."

Eren didn't like this idea one bit. "But I don' wanna go to my room. I wanna stay with you!"

Levi sighed. He should have known it was not going to be this easy. "Eren... I have a meeting to go to. You can't stay with me." He crouched down to his level, but Eren didn't want to hear it.

"Captain Levi sir, if you don't mind. I'm finished with all my duties. I can take him off of your hands for a while." He looked at Hange in surprise. Though he didn't show it. For a moment he debated whether or not it was a wise decision to allow her to take care of his little brother. He glanced at Eren. Still hiding behind his toy, refusing to make eye contact. Finally he made up his mind.

"Fine. If you don't want to go back to your room then you can go with miss Zoe here." He gestured to Hange.

"She's very uh-nice." He nearly choked on his words. As if to emphasize his point Hange sat down to his level. Trying very hard to smile non-threateningly and failing.

"...But I want to stay with you."

"I know Eren. But you can't right now. You and I can play all the games you want later."

"Promise?"

He nodded. "I promise."

"Okay!"

Levi hugged the boy, ruffled his hair again and turned to Hange. "Alright. Eren will stay with you for now."

"Yes sir." She did not need to hear his silent treat to know its there. **'Touch him, your dead.'**

He turned on his heel to leave-

"Wait! Captain Levi-"

He stopped but did not turn around. "Yes Oulo"

"The kid sir. Who-"

"Everything will be explained later. Just don't let Hange tell him about her experiments. Kid's got enough trauma as it is." He gave one last goodbye to Eren along the lines of 'Be good' and left. Leaving the two scouts none the wiser about the Captain's apparent new ward.

* * *

 _ **BRAND NEW CHAPTER YEAH! I hoped you liked it. Granted it was very short but I'll see to updateing as soon as posible. Its vacation at the moment but with me being me I'm still studying...there must be something wrong with me...DX**_

 _ **Anyyyywwayyy...Feel free to Review! I might just get inspired to start writing on part 2 again...Who knows?**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 **-Ziixx**

(Updated: 13 December 2015)


	5. Chapter 5: The New Ackerman (Part 2)

**Chapter 5: The New Ackerman (part 2)** (2 Okt 2015)

"Whoa! When did this happen?!"

"Oh don't look at me! He's not mine." Oulo defended irritated. The remaining squad members turned their attention to Hange. Eren hid behind her leg. Clearly not enjoying the attention he was getting. "Oh no! He's not mine either!"

Petra moved closer as Hange guided him into view. "Aww! He's so cute. What's your name little guy?"

He blushed and hugged his teddy.

She smiled at him making him hide again. "So if he's not yours, who's kid is he then?" Gunter asked.

"Levi's"

The group stared at Oulo in disbelief and then at Eren. "You're joking."

"We don't know that!" Hange protested.

"I thought you were the smart one. He made it pretty clear not to harm a hair on his tiny little head."

"Hange's right! That can just mean that he's being protective." Petra cut in. The two started at it again. Their bickering was cut off by a giggle. Eren stared at them with a big smile, a glint in his eyes.

"What's so funny kid?"

"Your bickering like a married couple." The two immediately started denying everything, despite the fact that they were in fact talking to an six year old, making him giggle again. Just then a scout ran over to them. "Section Commander Hange! Your needed at the pen!"

"What! But I have to keep an eye on him!" Franticly she turned to the arguing duo. "I can't take him to the pen. Will you guys look after him for now?! Thanks!"

She ran off before anyone could answer. Leaving the five scouts to babysit. Petra shook her head at Hange and knelt down to Eren. "So if your gonna hang out with us for a while, we are going to need to introduce ourselves. I'm Petra and that's Gunter, Eld, and Ness. You already know Oulo. What's your name?"

"I'm Eren!" He beamed.

"And whose this little guy?" She gestured to the Titan teddy in his arms. He held it out for her to see. "This is Rouge! Levi made him for me!"

Oulo sent Petra an 'I told you so!' look, but she ignored it. "I see. Hi Rouge."

He laughed at her and she smiled. "Well Eren do you wanna have a tour of the castle?"

His smile brightened. "Sure! I haven't gotten the chance to explore yet!"

He took her hand as she led him to the courtyard...

 **-xXx-**

"UNCLE ERWIN!"

The poor man was caught off guard when a blur of red jumped him seemingly out of nowhere. He was startled for a moment, he relaxed instantly though when he heard a familiar giggle. With a smile he readjusted the boy so that he sat comfortably on his shoulders. "Eren. Aren't you supposed to be with Levi?"

"No. Levi's at a meeting. His squad is showing me around!" He grinned.

"Is that so?"

"Eren!" From behind them three scouts came running from the direction of the stables. Eren must have run off while they weren't looking. Levi's subordinates skidded to a halt as soon as they noticed who their runaway was with. "Commander Erwin! Sir we were just-"

He silenced them with a gesture. "Don't worry about it. Eren has his brother's nack for sneaking off."

The scouts breathed out in relief, knowing that they weren't about to be scolded for losing the tiny Ackerman boy. Gunter's attention suddenly caught a word in the commander's sentence.

"Wait...Brother?"

The other three looked up, catching on as well.

"Yes, Eren is Levi's little brother. He will be staying here for the time being." He explained. "Levi likely just hasn't gotten around to telling you."

They looked at Eren in new understanding. The true situation coming into perspective.

"Two Ackermans?!" Oulo suddenly burst out laughing, startling the others. "As if one wasn't enough!"

He moved over to Eren, still on Erwin's shoulders and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like we'll be seeing you around more often then, huh kid?!"

Petra felt herself instantly relax when she realized that Oulo had meant nothing bad with his sudden outburst. She smiled happily at her captain's brother, matching his happy smile.

"I'm glad to see you are all getting along." A voice came from behind. The group turned around to see Levi approaching them, looking slightly more relaxed than usual.

"Your back early." Erwin inquired putting Eren down, who immediately bolted to Levi's side.

"My meeting was cancelled." He ruffled Eren's hair. He laughed, and playfully slapped away his brother's hand. "You didn't cause any trouble while I was away, did you Eren?"

"No. I just gave your squad a heart attack."

Levi suppressed a laugh and shook his head, standing up and turning to his squad. "Thank you, for keeping an eye on him."

Petra smiled at her captain. "It was no problem Captain! He's a really sweet kid."

"Just a hand full." Eren punched him playfully. The other three nearly choked at their usually unemotional captain's sort-of joke. They didn't even notice him walking away with a wave of farewell and Eren following shortly behind.

 **-xXx-**

"-about how you still go around cleaning everything like you did when we were living in the underground and then Oulo told me about that time when-" Levi nodded absently at his brother's one-sided monologue regarding his morning with Levi's squad. Mentally, he made a note to 'remind' his squad about how talking about missions and 'that time somebody got drunk' were not appropriate subjects to be talking about with a six year old. "How do you even remember these things?"

"I don' know." He shrugged. "I just do."

Levi nodded and returned his attention to where he was going. They were attracting more and more looks from the surrounding scouts. He was perfectly contempt with simply ignoring them. Eren however...

"Why are they staring at us?"

"They aren't used to kids wandering around here. This isn't exactly the most appropriate place for children." He explained. Though he knew there was another reason. Eren looked over at the staring scouts curiously. They should know who he is by now and judging by how his brother is treated...maybe.. A grin started forming at the corners of his mouth. Commence Experiment number 1!

As soon as the scouts made eye contact, he sent them the death-glare. The nosy men paled instantly at the gesture and scattered like rats from fire. Likely traumatized by the tiny Ackerman. Eren grinned triumphantly in his success. Levi who was secretly watching from next him had to suppress his own grin.

Yeah. Eren is gonna get along **just** fine...

* * *

 _ **Yay! Part 2!**_

 _ **I hoped you liked it. When i wrote this chapter it was my birthday. I had too rewrite it twice because when writing on your phone things tend to happen...:(**_

 _ **ANYWAY! I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed, Fav and Followed. I officially passed my goal of getting more reviews in this fic than my first and its all thanks to you guys. You are all awesome! As for Lena-luvs-cats: I really liked you review! Its adorable! I'm sending you a digital hug back! XD**_

 ** _Until Next Time!_**

 **-Ziixx**

 **(Updated: 14 December 2015)**


	6. Chapter 6: Taking names

**Chapter 6: Taking names and making friends** **(3 July 2015)**

 ** _Three months later, age 7..._**

 ** _'Oh, this is not happening! I'm dead! We're dead! We already have a reserved spot in hell and everything. Why this?! Why now!? Oh, please this can not be happening!;_** Hange tried her best not to panic as she frantically searched the crowd of the buzzing market place, but given the situation, it was proven hard.

"Levi's gonna kill us! EREN!" She called their missing ward for the umpteenth time in the last hour.

Ness pushed passed another merchant. "It's hopeless! He can't hear us in this crowd. He can be anywhere by now!"

"Well, I'm sorry if I haven't quite resigned myself to a prolonged and painful death!" The hysterical woman exclaimed earning herself a few startled looks from the surrounding people.

For the people of Trost, seeing two frantic, terrified looking members of the ever-so-courageous Scouting Legion so distraught was strange to say the least. The two said frantic Scouts were supposed to have been looking after Eren who, when he discovered that they where going to the marketplace to buy groceries, nearly burst out in tears begging to come with them. However, they hadn't expected the market to be so busy and before long, the boy was no where to be found. Now, they had to find him before he got hurt, lost or worse- Levi finds them!

Only Heaven knew what would happen to them if he found out. Their bodies would probably never be found. She grabbed a startled passer by and demanded to know if he had seen the tiny little runaway. The man, as soon as he was released, ran for his life afterwards. She growled in frustration and turned to her colleague. "Where the hell can he be!"

 **-xXx-**

 ** _Meanwhile..._**

Eren happily wandered in the streets of Trost. He had long since lost sight of Hange and Ness, although at the moment, he didn't care much. He had never seen so many people all at once- it was strange and amazing all at once. Seeing people going on about their ordinary lives was very interesting.

Some people spared him a curious glance, while others simply ignored him. He rounded a corner and went down an alleyway. A cat suddenly shot past him, startling him. He looked at the fury beast curiously. He had seen cats outside the walls before, but those where bigger and were better left alone. Although, for some reason, most animals generally avoided him. Deep down, he knew the reason- the very reason was probably clawing at the walls right now.

Craving for human flesh...

He wiped the thought from his mind. Never again- he was safe, at least for now. That is, until he could join his brother and retake what was theirs. He'd kill every Titan on his path. He'll be the best scout out there, just like his brother and they would never have to know.

He started walking on again in an attempt to rid himself of bad thoughts, gradually picking up his pace. He went down a series of alleyways and streets, no real destination in mind. The sound of laughter reached his ears- not the happy kind, but the savage and vile kind. The kind he imagined the titans made with their sickening grins.

He peeked around the corner, curious of what would make someone make such a sound and his blood boiled- three boys surrounded a smaller blond boy, screaming insults and hurting him. One punched him in the gut.

"What is it, refugee? Have enough!?" One mocked. "Why don't you hit back, huh? Or have you still not stolen enough of our food yet?"

"I'd rather take a few hits than brawl like a beast!" The younger boy spat.

"Oh, so I'm a beast now?!"

"Take a good hard look at yourself and tell me you're not acting like one. You resort to violence because your brain is the size of a walnut!" If Eren wasn't so mad he would have burst out in laughter- he liked this kid. "So, pummel me all you want. I've already won!"

"Yeah, well, you know what? I'm a sore loser!" The bully raised his hand to strike at the younger boy again...

"Back off!" He appeared from his hiding place, fire in his eyes. The boy's assailants turned their attention to him. "Well, well, looky here. Someone decided he wants to play hero."

"Leave him alone! He did nothing to you!"

The boys laughed. "Oh, what a tough guy! This is going to be fun."

Eren ignored them and prepared himself to fight. Unfortunately for them, he had picked up a few things from Levi. The scum wouldn't know what hit them. They charged. He went on the defensive, dodging and blocking blows in a dance of movements. The boys quickly started getting frustrated with him.

"Stand still, dammit!"

One swung a fist at him again. Eren ducked and twisted out from under him, but this time he struck. The larger boy was hit by a series of quick jabs, followed by a kick to finish him off. He stumbled back wheezing for air. His companions looked at their friend in shock. However, this was quickly replaced by rage.

"You little shit!"

They charged at him again. He tried dodging their blows, but accompanied by their anger, it was starting to get difficult not to get hit. This became even more so when the downed assailant re-joined them. He managed to take down another one, but the bully was quickly back on his feet. Eren was tiring out and they knew it. After all, the boys were all a couple of years older than him- they were stronger and bigger than him. But he didn't let this stop him from fighting back.

He'd faced worse.

He was pushed back, stumbling and losing his footing. The leader smirked and prepared to hit him. "Not so tough now are ya, hot shot!"

He lifted his fist and Eren prepared for the inevitable...

Getting hit in the face felt a lot like not getting hit in the face- perhaps, that was because he wasn't. He opened his eyes to see the leader's face twisted in pain. His fist was caught in the hand of a smaller girl. She sneered. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

She twisted his fist, making him scream in pain, and pushed him back. He fell hard, clutching his hand. His friends helped him up.

"You're all freaks!" He screamed at the two kids, before the three took off running at full speed.

The mystery girl turned around and offered him her hand. He took it and got back on his feet. "Thanks."

She nodded. Then, he suddenly remembered the reason he started the fight in the first place. He proceeded to look for the boy and found him still in the corner holding on to an old-looking book for dear life. He ran over to him, followed by the girl. "Hey! Are you alright?!"

"Y-Yes. Thank you." He helped him up. The boy stumbled a bit.

"Where did they get you, Armin?" The girl asked. Armin whimpered, but shook it off. "I'm fine. Thank you."

Eren grinned and stuck out his hand. "Hi! I'm Eren."

He smiled and shook his hand in return. "Armin Arlert."

 **-xXx-**

 ** _Back in the Market Place..._**

Section Commander Hange and Ness had all but resigned their lives. They had searched for hours on end and yet there still was no sign of the boy anywhere. They had pestered every vendor, merchant, passer by and local for information, but to no avail.

"We're never gonna find him! He could have been snatched by human traffickers by now!" Hange screamed.

"Calm down, it's not like he could have gone far..." Ness tried to reason with her. Really, he only did the opposite.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! We are DEAD! D. E. A. D! DEAD! When Levi finds out-"

"When Levi finds out what?" A voice asked from behind them.

Hange's blood ran cold. Her heart skipped a few beats. She almost thought that it would stop all together. Slowly, they turned around to come face to face with a very irritated-looking captain.

"Haha, hey Levi! There you are..."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hange. Where is Eren?"

"Eren? Oh, he's here, somewere... Completely fine. Nothing to worry about!" She said nervously, fidgeting with her hands.

He didn't buy it. He grabbed her head, looked her in the eyes and asked verrryyy slllowlyyy. "Hange. Did you **lose** my little brother?"

Hange nearly burst out in tears. "I-I'm sorry Levi! We looked everywhere for him! He was here the one minute and-and! He was just gone! Just kill us already!"

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and growled- he'd deal with their insolence later. Right now, he needed to find his brother. He glanced at a food wagon near him and an idea came to mind. He climbed onto the cart, and from there he climbed up to the roof, leaving the panicked Hange to herself.

"Hey! What do think you're doing?!" The merchant's protests were cut off by a glare. Hange stopped her rambling and noticed what he was doing. Levi gazed across the market place, looking for any sign of the boy. When he found none, he resorted to plan B.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

The market place fell silent, all attention to the scout on the roof.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Someone yelled at him, only to be slapped by the person next to him. "Shut up, you idiot! That's Captain Levi, Humanity's Strongest Soldier! He's killed more titans than you can count!"

The crowd seemed to find a new understanding and listened intently to whatever the man had to say. "I'm looking for someone. He's about this high, red scarf, brown hair. If anyone of you idiots saw him, you better speak up, unless you want to face a death worse than being titan chow."

Fear crept its way into the faces of those in the crowd who knew of the man's reputation (namely, everyone). Finally, someone spoke up. "I think I saw him! Bright eyes, brown hair. Went that way."

The man pointed in the direction of the houses. Levi nodded and gave the man a quick salute. "Carry on."

With that, he jumped off the roof and started moving in the direction the man pointed, dragging the two imbeciles on the way.

 **-xXx-**

Laughter filled the air. "No, that actually happened! I promise!" Eren laughed.

"Wow. That's just- I don't know." Armin shook his head, They had taken a seat at the edge of the river that ran through the three walls. If you looked long enough, one could see the clouds make different patterns on the water's surface.

When the laughter died down, Eren turned to the girl next to him. "You don't talk much do you?"

She didn't respond. Instead, she simply continued to stare at the river. Eren saw her shiver slightly. He reached for his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "Here, this will keep you warm."

She felt the fabric between her fingers and looked up. "Thank you."

He smiled. "Keep it- you need it more than I do."

The group was left in a comfortable silence once again.

"Your fighting style is strange."

"What?"

He looked up surprised to see that Mikasa had spoken again.

"Your fighting style... It's strange."

"Yeah. My brother taught me- I'm a bit rusty, though. Mostly because I don't have someone to spar with. Hey... maybe you and I can sometime!"

"...I'd like that."

He grinned. "Maybe, we can even teach Armin a few moves!"

Armin shifted uncomfortably next to him. "Um, I don't know, Eren..."

"Come on, Armin! Just a little self-defence. Besides, you don't have to use it if you don't want to."

"Alright, I guess it can't hurt to do just a little..."

Just then, a peculiar thought unexpectedly crossed his mind. "Yeah, Armin. What kind of name is that?"

Armin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Err...My grandfather gave it to me."

"Well, if you see your grandfather again... could you ask him something for me?" Eren asked innocently. He looked up, not catching on the mischievous glint in the boy's forest-green eyes. He could have sworn those were blue. "Sure, anything."

"Ask him why he called you Armin and not Armout."

Mikasa almost choked. She had to hold her mouth shut to keep herself from bursting out from laughter. Instead, only a snort came out. Armin rolled his eyes at his friend's joke.

"Haha Arm-in, Arm-out. I get it. Very funny." He replied sarcastically to the grinning maniac next to him.

"Well~" He snickered, almost in a sing-song voice. "At least it wasn't Leg-out!" This time, neither of the three could hold their laughter. Too engrossed with the joke, none of the trio noticed the raven-haired man and his two companions approaching.

"Eren."

The boy's head snapped in the direction his name was called to see the familiar faces of his brother, Hange Zoe and Horse Dude aka Ness approaching. The last two looked rather relieved albeit terrified at the same time.

"Levi!" He cried happily and ran over to the waiting man. "Levi, Levi! Meet my new friends!"

The mentioned two nervously walked over, not sure what to make of the situation. Levi kneeled down to their level.

Armin spoke first, stuttering. "Y-you're Captain Levi!"

He nodded. "I am. And you are?"

Armin snapped awake from his daze and quickly glanced at both his friends. "Oh! I'm Armin Arlert-" Eren snickered. Armin sent him a quick glare before turning back to the Captain. "-And this is Mikasa Ackerman. Sir." he said, gesturing to the oriental next to him. Levi faltered a bit when he heard her surname, but thought nothing of it. He knew they weren't the only Ackermans out there, but he was under the impression that they had all been murdered. He'd ask Eren about it later.

Mikasa merely nodded. Levi returned the gesture with a salute, understanding the way of the silent language.

"Nice to meet you. My brother needed a friend who is his own age and not a bunch of military idiots." He sent an accusing look at Hange, who sheepishly pretended to look away. "It was an honor to meet you both."

Levi raised again to his full height of 5"3" before turning to Eren. "Come on, Eren, we have to go."

Immediately, Eren started to complain. "Awww! But, Levi!"

"No . I promise you can visit your friends another time. If you behave, they might even be allowed to come to the base."

Eren's face lit up at this. "Really?!"

"Yes. But you have to say goodbye for now." Levi said. Eren sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine..."

He turned to his friends. "So...I'll see you guys later?"

Armin, still shocked at his new revelation, simply nodded. Eren was just about to run to Levi, who was waiting over with the two guilty looking miscreants, when Armin stopped him. "Wait! Is Captain Levi actually your brother?!"

"Yup! The short leviathan is my brother. I have to go now, but I'll tell you all about it someday, I promise." With that, he ran off to his brother, waving goodbye at his flabbergasted friends. Armin watched them go, his mind still racing.

...Did that just happen?

"Yes, it did." Mikasa answered him calmly as if she could read his thoughts. She turned around and walked the other way.

"WAIT! MIKASA!" Armin quickly found his numb feet and ran to catch up to the leaving girl.

* * *

 _ **Levi found Eren sometime around February, Eren's birthday is March 30th so three months after February Eren is 7.**_

 _ **Thank you all for all the Favs, Follows and Reviews. It seriously makes my day!**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 **-Ziixx**


	7. Chapter 7: The Penn

_**MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS!**_

 _ **I felt I just needed too! My Christmas present to you guys. My sister bought me 'Attack on Titan: No Regrets Vol 1' for Christmas! She's amazing!**_

 _ **Anyway on with the Story!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Penn (29 Sept 2015)**

 ** _Six months later, Age 7..._**

Two turquoise blues peaked around the corner, carefully scanning the surrounding area for any signs of life. Behind him his accomplice shuffled uncomfortably on his feet. "Eren a-are you sure this is such a good idea?"

The brunette swung on his heels to face his friend. "Relax, we'll be in and out before you know it."

His reassurance did nothing to ease the blond's nerves. "Won't we get in trouble? Isn't this considered breaking and entering of military property?"

"Look Armin, we won't get into trouble unless we get caught." The boy in question stole a weary glance back at the supposedly abandoned building behind him. "Out of all the places on this base, this is the one place I'm not allowed to go. I want to know why."

"But maybe there's a good reason. Maybe its an armoury or a morgue."

Eren turned back to the building. "No, that's not it. Everyone's gear is kept amongst their personal belongings and I've seen more dead bodies than I care to count. They won't tell me that I'm not allowed if it was that."

Seeing that he wasn't going to convince his friend otherwise, Armin readjusted his footing once again. He really disliked the idea. If they got caught...he for one isn't keen on getting on Captain Levi's bad side, but he be damned if he left Eren on this venture alone, regardless of the potentially painful consequences. He groaned mentally, hoping with all his being that Eren knew what he was doing and shakenly followed the boy into the building.

The structure itself wasn't much to look at, its style and architecture didn't really defer much from the old Castle nearby that the Survey corps used as a base. The same was said for its state, besides being duster than the Castle (for obvious reasons) the halls was dark and cold all the same. Their only light source being moonlight peering through the cracks that cast dancing shadows all over the broken floors.

The building itself seemed to be in a square shape with an extra part surrounded with halls added to it, like a courtyard. At the moment they were inside the square part. By the looks of it, it looked almost like it was turned into some kind of research archive mixed with a storage facility. Most of the rooms where filled with bookshelves, creates, supplies, desks and workspaces covered in papers. It made sense. If it was the Survey Corps' Research Archive then it would explain why Eren had seen Section Commander Hange enter the building every now and then, but it wouldn't explain why Eren's not allowed in the building in the first place then, if its just a big library.

This prickled his interest. It didn't take away his nervousness though. The place still is pretty creepy and it keeps getting darker and darker with every passing moment. They haven't been inside for very long and still all his senses where screaming at him to get away as fast as possible. As if there could be something very bad waiting around the corner at any given moment...

.

.

.

.

"What are you two doing?"

Both boys nearly jumped out of their skin at the ominous disembodied voice from behind them, The only thing keeping Armin from screaming and bolting being Eren's hand over his mouth. Instead only a muffled peep could be heard. Except said ominous disembodied voice actually wasn't all that disembodied and it definitely wasn't all that ominous either, as it was more like angry Mikasa.

Even worse.

"Mikasa! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Eren complained, though it came out more as a whine as an actual complaint.

"Its not my fault you wet your pants."

"I did not!" He whispered angrily back at the girl who was already walking past him. Armin wasn't about to interfere, because unlike Eren he actually did wet his pants, but wasn't about to bring that to the attention of either of them.

Mikasa who by now was ignoring Eren's angry whisper rant, took in the surrounding hall with an emotionless interest before turning back to him cutting off the grand finale. "We're not allowed in here. What are you doing here?"

Eren grumbled but answered anyway. "I've seen Hange come in here plenty of times. I want to know what is so bad that I'm not allowed in here."

She nodded. "These rooms are all storage compartments and workspaces. What about that one." She pointed to the door at the end of the hall, the one that likely leads to the courtyard. The door itself was bigger and unlike the rest was a double door, worn by use.

Eren stared at the door in new understanding, having caught on to what Mikasa meant. If they were hiding anything then whatever it is, it must be behind there. He turned back to his two friends with new determination burning in his eyes. Its now or never. With one big effort the beam keeping the door closed was lifted and the door itself was pushed open just enough for three heads to poke through...

Another wall.

Perfect.

Eren made no effort to hide his disappointment. Pushing the door open enough so that the rest of their bodies can fit through. Two halls, one going left the other going right. The one going right though seemed to end in a dead end so they turned down the left one which turned around a corner that seemed to be lit by candlelight. Making sure to remain as silent as possible the trio followed the path. When the rounded the corner the courtyard came into view though their view on the right hand side was obscured by a torn sail. Thinking nothing of it, the three plundered on completely unaware of the beast lurking on the other side of the sail. As if out of no where, a gust of warm wind suddenly blew over them from the direction of the sails, accompanied by the sound of shifting chains.

The trio froze.

They were not alone.

Slowly as their lives depended on it, three heads turned to come face to face with one big blue eye starring at them threw the rip in the fabric.

In less than a second the beast's teeth had snapped where they once where. Mikasa had pulled Armin back just in time, in order not to get bitten in half (sorry Marco! XD). Both of them were now laying against the wall. (sorry Petra! ...Again.)

Eren however...

Like an idiot, was standing right in front of the titan with a ridiculous look on his face, having only stepped back a bit to avoid getting eaten. "Well then. A pet titan. Didn't guess that."

Mikasa spluttered at her friend's reaction. "Eren! Are you stupid! Get away from there!"

Eren looked back at her with a grin. "Its fine. He's chained. See?" He gestured to the indeed chained titan who, in vain, was trying to snap at him, missing by only an inch every time.

"WHAT?! I don't care if its chained or not! It not safe!"

Eren laughed but made no attempt at moving. Mikasa was just about to drag him away from that thing and beat him up herself.

"He's a feisty one isn't he?" A new voice joined them. All three kids turning to face the newcomer. "Chickihilo is always like that."

Eren recognise her when she stepped into the light. "Hange! Oh um-"

Hange waved him off. "Don't worry your not in trouble. Your just lucky I decided to work late today and sent the guards home."

The trio breathed out a sigh in relief, however some where more stained than others, considering the still present aggressive titan. Hange stepped over to Eren, standing right next to him equally undeterred.

"Aren't you afraid of them?"

"No... Not really. If anything, I hate them more than being afraid of them. I think I've outgrown it, like a child being afraid of a spider. It goes away eventually, but the general sense of danger is still there." Next to him the woman beamed at his answer, her excitement growing by the minute. He turned to her, a seriousness in his voice that an seven year old should not have. "That said, I understand that just keeping on killing them and hoping for the best isn't going to work. That's why you are keeping them here, right? For research?"

Hange grinned. "Correct!"

In one swift motion she grabbed him by the shoulders and turned his body to face her. "You know Eren, if you want, you can help me out here sometimes. That is if I can convince your brother not to kill me first."

His eyes widened at the offer. "Really?!"

She nodded, whacking Chickihilo with a stick when he got to close. "It would be glorious! Imagine what we could learn!"

He laughed at her dramatic behaviour. "That would be awesome! Thanks Hange I'd love too."

"Great! I'll talk to Levi and the commander about it tomorrow, assuming I survive. For now the three of you better get back. There's no telling what shorty would do if he finds out you snuck out to here."

Taking her advice to heart, Eren heeded the scientist a goodbye and grabbed his two half recovered friends. They where halfway out of the building, now walking at a steady pace, when Armin let out a snort and shook his head.

Eren stopped to look at him curiously. "What is it Armin?"

"You spend way to much time in the survey corps."

Mikasa nodded her head in agreement. Eren was left standing there for a moment before breaking out in laughter. "I guess so."

With that he ran up to them, subconsciously praying that the lathiathan hadn't yet noticed the absence of his three brave explorers. (Minus Armin of course)

* * *

 ** _When I wrote this chapter I happened to notice something completely unintentional and in my opinion hilarious. According to my timeline for this fic I unintentionally somehow managed to have this happen around the end of October, around Halloween. And when I wrote this chapter I noticed it had a hunted house type of effect. That I just find funny._**

 ** _That's funny. In my country we don't really celebrate Halloween unfortunately. Not really. I'm almost sure most don't even know when it is. Were I grew up anyway. Though lately its gotten more popular with my generation. Funny, though my friends and I are known for our expertise in scaring the shit out of people with our awesome cosplay otaku creepiness we skipped Halloween this year(it would have been our first). We have a reputation at school to be the only group of otakus_** ** _(_** ** _at our school its very rare in South Africa truust me) the reputation only improved when we proved to be the best at dressing up as well. (costume charity event at school. We went as zombies. Hahah. My teachers couldn't look at me! And I think I traumatised a junior) Next year its Naruto_** ** _'_** ** _s_** **_Anbu. I'm going as Inu (Dog). (my favourite Anime by the way...)_**

 ** _Once Again Merry (late) Christmas!_**

 ** _Until Next Time!_**

 **-Ziixx**

(Updated: 25 December)


	8. Chapter 8: Stowaway

**Chapter 8: Stowaway (9 July 2015)**

 ** _A Year later, age 8..._**

There was a nagging feeling in the back of Levi's mind- for some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that something really **bad** would happen today. And not the usual, "forty percent of the soldiers present in mission were killed" bad, but the "We're all gonna die!" bad. Even though all the signs showed otherwise, it still bothered him.

Call it a rare gut feeling.

Today, he and his team was guarding the trailers near the center rank- a safe place to be but dangerous nonetheless. They'd already received word that the outer ranks have sustained massive damage. Nothing ever got better for them, especially the outer ranks.

Somewhere in the distance Erwin shot a green smoke signal indicting a course change. He understood why- there was rather large forest up ahead. It was a perfect place for them to use their 3DM gear but also a death-trap for those on the ground. If they were to go through they would have to break formation which would leave them vulnerable from all sides. This wouldn't do, so instead they would maneuver around it. Sharp thinking of the man. It was one of the reasons Levi respected him.

On the other side of the forest, one could find a small town or, well, what was left of it anyway. The titans had rapidly decimated everything in sight. If they ever had the chance to retake Shiganshina and reclaim what had been demolished, it would take decades to rebuild everything. The aim today, however, was the same as the last few missions. Leave, establish a route and come back. Easier said than done. If everything was as simple as it sounded though they wouldn't be having a problem.

Not far away, another smoke signal fired. Red. Meaning the right center ranks had spotted their second titan since the last course change. With the pace they were going, they would reach the town within the next few minutes. After that, it was a full blown titan country and a straight shot to Shiganshina, if they could make it that far that is. Once the quantity supplies and men began decreasing they would be forced to turn back. Unfortunately, they were already nearing that line.

From behind him Oluo suddenly realized something. "Hey Captain. Isn't this around where you found the kid two years ago?"

"Two years! It's only been that long?" Petra exclaimed from behind him.

"Yeah I know." Gunter agreed. It's hard to think that Eren had merely been with them for such a short time. For Levi, it felt like forever. He couldn't remember waking up without Eren jumping on him as an early wake up call or walking down the hall without hearing his laughter echoing from somewhere in the castle.

"Poor Eren," she sighed "He really, really wanted to come. First, I had to convince him we were coming back and then I had to convince myself. Somehow, it was harder to convince myself…"

"Speak for yourself. Those of us who are more experienced-" Oluo started.

"Oh, don't you even start! I-"

"Stop your bickering. We need to stay vigilant." Levi scolded, looking to the skies. "The last smoke signal was far too long ago."

The team observed their surroundings to find he was right. In the time they had been arguing and talking about Eren, they had passed right by the little village and yet no smoke signals were fired. Not a good sign.

It happened with no warning.

Suddenly, a giant twelve meter titan came out of nowhere. The nearest scouts didn't have time to react. With one sweep of its giant arm both riders were sent flying. Both men were dead on impact- the cart they were pulling was just a pile of splinters now. The beast turned to them, expecting its next kill.

Before they even had a chance to do anything another two titans emerged from the nearby buildings, this time bigger. The Levi squad sprang into action. They struck down the first two with ease, leaving only one.

No one noticed the absence of Petra.

A scream attracted their attention. Somewhere along the line, Petra had been caught off guard when a ten meter had snuck up on her as she was fighting the fifteen meter. One of her blades was snapped clean in half and her 3DM gear was crushed like an ant. She was clutched gasping for air in the hand of the titan struggling for her life as it brought her closer to its mouth. They charged, preparing to separate skin from bone.

They never got the chance.

Suddenly, its flesh began to turn into steam. It fell to its knees, releasing Petra from its grasp. She let out a scream in surprise but landed on her feet anyway. Gunter rushed over to her side to get her away from the falling titan.

Levi took a step closer to its steaming corpse. It was only when the titan fell, exposing it's nape, that what had killed it became clear. Half of Petra's broken blade was lodged deep in the creature's weak spot. How did it even get there? None of them had even had the chance to get close to it! The blade had to have be thrown by someone. So they did the logical thing.

They turned around.

There on the wagon, body still poised from the position where he had thrown the blade, stood none other than Eren Ackerman. Blood was dripping from his hand where the blade had cut him when it had left his hand. Shock had completely frozen his body.

The mention of his name snapped him from his trance. "Owww! That was totally not planned!"

He grabbed onto his bleeding hand and fell to his knees. Realizing he was still staring, Levi recomposed himself, pushing his emotions of surprise and shock aside for the moment. He ran over to his brother and grabbed a bandage from the medical kit.

"Those blades are SHARP!" Eren exclaimed, the events of the previous moments all but forgotten.

Levi ignored him. "Where did you get cut?"

The stowaway held out his hand for the man to see. It was a deep cut, but it was already healing. Although he knew it would just be a scar within the hour. He bandaged it anyway. "What are you doing here Eren?"

"What do you mean? I came with you." He replied innocently. Levi gave him a look.

"Ok! OK! So I wanted to see what you guys actually do out here all the time." After a pause, he looked down at his feet for a moment. "I guess I… I just wanted to be one of you guys. To be a scout."

He sighed and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Eren. I understand that you wanted to help. But this, this is not the way. See that cart over there?"

He gestured towards the cart that the first titan hit. Eren nodded. "That could have been you. Think before you act Ackerman."

The boy sniffed and nodded. Levi sighed. "We'll talk about this later. We need to contact the others." He stood and turned to his squad, making sure they knew that the last part was directed to them.

They seemed to think about the same thing. "Our horses are all either dead or gone Sir. We won't last long without them."

He nodded in acknowledgement. "How about the flares?"

"...We have one flare left sir. The horses took off with the others." Gunter handed him the flare gun. It was a red flare. Their options weren't looking too good. The captain discussed the plan of action with his team, their voices drowning out in a haze.

Eren wasn't listening anymore. Boredom befalling him as he stared out over the open field, at the forest. Instinctively, his mind started to formulate a new course of action. No horses, no supplies, and no useful flares. Its funny, to them, the situation seemed dire, but to him; it was nothing. He knew what to do. He's done it before too much anyway...

In the meantime, Levi's horse had returned, as did Oluo's, but they were still short on horses. They were discussing their options when Levi noticed Eren's silent behavior. He stole a glance behind him and fell silent. His squad looked at his curiously due to the sudden change. Eren was completely calm, watching the birds fly by, no indication of worry or panic in his demeanor- hardly the reaction anyone in this kind of situation had.

"…Eren?"

He didn't respond.

"Eren… are you okay?"

"The forest."

"What?" His reply surprised them. What the hell was he talking about?!

"Titans can't climb trees." He said casually, as if it was common knowledge. "It's the safest place for us right now. We might find the horses there too; sometimes when they get frightened they go to the forest."

The reason for Eren's reaction then occurred to him- Eren was used to this. After all, he probably found himself in the same situation often before Levi had found him. He turned to the others. "Gunter, take the horse, alert Commander Erwin of the situation. For the time being we're heading for the forest."

The group looked at him in surprise. "Sir! Are you sure that's wise?"

He faced them. "Take one good look at Eren and tell me who knows more about how to survive out here than him."

Realization crossed their faces. The situation came into perspective. Without another word, the three scouts ran off to their respective jobs.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been working on the script for my manga, The Orion Project, and have been extremely busy. I hate writing beginnings. I really do, but i cant put it off any longer. DX I can have the entire plot and end and everything down and the damn beginning ends up giving me head aches. Its not even like I can skip it. And art block isn't helping either. TT**_

 _ **Oh well...**_

 _ **Originally this fanfiction and all the others where practice to keep my writing skills up. I LOVE making plots. Especially where everything always goes wrong. XD**_

 _ **My poor poor manga characters. They might just go over to Attack on Titan for some tea and cookies...**_

 _ **I'm evil.**_

 _ **Anyway...I hoped you liked it. I never liked this chapter. It always annoyed me. I'll hopefully update soon. School starts Wednesday TT sooo, you get it...**_

 _ **Please review! Oh and Happy New Years!**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 **-Ziixx**

 _(Updated: 6 January 2016)_


	9. Chapter 9: Not what it seems

**Chapter 9: Not What It Seems**

Captain Levi and Commander Erwin Smith stood at the highest branches of the Blackwood forest. The current situation have been made clear to the higher ranking officer and after a heavy loss of men, the order to turn back and regroup at Blackwood Forest was given. Now with all their resources together once again. They were faced a with a much bigger problem than a stowaway. "According to the rear guard, There's a hoard of titans coming from the west towards the city. All giant class. Maneuvering around will take too long. We're cut off."

"How many?

"Far too much for us to handle. We'll have to stay the night until they leave."

Levi nodded. Although he wanted to get out as fast as possible, it's the best plan for now. There were just few minor problems. "We need to find food somewhere. Our men won't be very helpful if they are all starving."

He nodded. "I'll send for a hunting party-"

"That won't work." An innocent voice came from above. Everyone looked in surprise to the two bright innocent blues watching them from the higher branches.

"Levi! What's Eren doing here!" Hange screamed and jumped over to the boy. Vigorously checking for injuries. The others fell silent at the knowledge of the boy's presence. He tried pushing her away. Levi sighed in annoyance. "It's a long story but he's saved our asses more than once."

This caused the other scouts to frown in confusion, those closest to Levi though we're left undeterred however. He had long since told them of Eren's Origins. They didn't know all the details but they knew enough.

"Hange. I'm fine!" He moved away from her.

"But your hand-" she protested.

"Levi already patched it up." She let him be. He turned back to the commander. "Anyway as I was saying. Hunting won't do you any good."

"Why would you say that?"

"Animals tend to stay away from titans; especially hoards. When there's many titans near by, the animals scram. You just said there's a hoard blocking our path."

Erwin looked at the child. He seemed completely at home in the environment as if there weren't any fifteen meter high monsters roaming the ground beneath his feet. "What do you propose then?"

"There's a clearing not far from here." He pointed in a south east direction. "There's a few fruit trees there that should be in season."

"What's the point? It's almost dark! Going to gather food now is suicide!" A frantic scout shouted. "Sir! Are you really going to listen to that little brat?!"

Levi nearly blew a gasket but stayed silent. Merely glaring at said scout. Erwin turned to the man. "This little brat probably knows more about the titans than all of us combined. Forgive me for trusting someone who has survived most of his life out here." That shut the man up.

He turned back to Eren only to see him missing. Levi snapped back to reality. He's been so focused on plotting the other man's death he completely missed Eren wandering off.

"Where did he go?!"

"I don't know he was here just a minute ago!"

"Over there!" A scout pointed to a small figure in the distance jumping from tree branch to tree branch-almost expertly. "Eren!"

The group took off after the boy, using their 3DM gear to catch up to him.

"Hay guys!" He called over to them when he realized their presence.

"Eren! What the hell are you doing?!" Levi demanded. He was terrified for his brother but albeit impressed in his skill.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" He leaped from a tree branch, nearly giving Hange a heart attack in the process, only to land on another branch. "I'm getting us food while you guys are too busy arguing about me being a kid!"

"Eren didn't you hear what that scout said! It's suicide to go looking for food after dark!" Petra called.

He slid to a stop. The others following in suit joining him on the branch. "I know you're just trying to help but-"

Eren didn't register what she was saying. He looked at them strangely. "You guys don't know?"

Petra stopped talking. Now it was their turn to look at him strangely. "Know what?"

"Titans sleep at night."

Hange choked on her breath. "WHAT?!"

"Most Titans can't stay awake for any longer than six hours after dark."

"But Hange's pet Titans don't sleep!"

"That's because they can smell the night guards. Their instincts are keeping them awake. Besides all of Hange's test subjects are bigger classes. They can absorb the sunlight reflecting off of the moon to stay marginally awake." He explained.

Hange screamed in delight. "EREN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THESE THINGS!"

"Ughh...never came up?" He wheezed from her grasp. Levi stepped forward.

"Hange let him go" She eventually obliged. "Regarding this new information, why did you bring us here?"

Eren walked over to the direction he was running. He pointed to the ground. "Food duh!"

Levi mentally rolled his eyes. The boy certainly had a one track mind that was for sure. The group followed Eren down and landed in the clearing. Eren gestured to the dense fuselage surrounding the clearing. "The bigger class titans don't come here because the trees are too close together. It's the perfect place to gather food!"

Sure enough the clearing was abundant with all kinds of fruit trees. From oranges to berries and apples.

"I haven't seen this much fresh fruit since Shiganshina fell!" Petra screamed in delight. The five quickly stared gathering what they could. Using their capes as bags. After a while Oulo noticed something.

"Hay kid come over here!" Oulo called Eren closer. Eren sat down next to him to see what he was pointing at. "What's that?"

He gestured to an odd looking dark brown and black flower. Eren grinned "Oh I call them stink flies! They grow around the fruit trees for some reason. If you pick them they start smelling like crazy!"

Hange bounded over to them and felt the tiny flower between her fingers. "Its fury. Interesting. You say it smells too?"

The boy nodded. She jumped for joy. "OHHH! This day is full of surprises!"

"Alright that should be enough for one night." Levi called them from behind. "Let's go."

The team did as they where told. This time giving Eren a lift as they did so.

 **-xXx-**

"This should be enough to keep for the night. Where did you find all this?" Erwin looked surprised at the food they had gathered. "As Eren said, there was a very abundant clearing just south-east of here. We got everything from there without even running into any titans." Levi said.

Everyone sat in a circle surrounding the gathered food. "We also came across some very interesting information regarding the titans." Hange added. "According to Eren, the titans sleep during the night due to a lack of sunlight. This might give us an advantage in the current situation."

"Is that so?" He turned to Eren whom sat comfortably next to Oulo and Petra, chewing on an apple. Deep down the child's demeanor scared the shit out of him. But there was no time for that now. Behind him the remaining scouts all derived between shock and suspicion. "There is one problem though. As I said before to the others, the bigger class titans can easily wake up during the night. Especially on a full moon like tonight. They'll smell us from a mile away."

Eld spoke up. "That won't do. Most of the hoard is nine meters and up."

As this was being discussed Hange thought of something. She turned around and started rummaging through her bag until she found it. "I've got it!" She held out a small brown flower in the air for the rest to see. It's roots still intact.

"A Stinkfly?" Gunter asked confused. He had over heard their earlier conversation about said flower. "What would that help?"

"Don't you get it! Eren said once cut this flower emits a powerful stench! Am I right?"

Eren nodded as he watched her curiously.

Levi finally caught on. "You want to use the flowers to mask our smell. So that we can sneak past."

"EXACTLY! Imagine the capabilities if it works!"

Erwin nodded. "That's all good and well, Hange, but what if instead of masking our smell the powerful stench wakes them up?"

"Actually. To them it'll just smell like just another smell. They're hard wired to smell humans. They won't smell us as long as no-one is bleeding." Eren interrupted him.

"How would you know this?" Eren's body stiffened, as if the simple question unnerved him. "Um experience?"

It came out as more of a question than a answer, but Erwin let it slide. "Eld go with Hange and get some of those flowers. Then take some of the men and go to the edge of the forest closest to the hoard. From there they should be able to smell you. If they don't we know it works."

The man nodded and left along with Hange in the direction of the clearing...

Levi watched them go, the nagging feeling returned and it was bothering him. He looked over to his brother. Now they just had to hope for the best...

 **-xXx-**

 _ **The next morning, an hour before sunrise...**_

Eld and the rest had returned successful in all aspects. The flowers was gathered by the scouts, one of which was taken by Hange and replanted in a jar for later study. The survey corps now stood at the edge of the Forrest gazing out at the countless sleeping titans cutting them off from salvation. Erwin turned to the group. "Alright this is it. Everyone has their orders. If the situation takes a turn for the worst the Levi squad will create a diversion long enough to get the rest out then we will regroup. Under no circumstances will anyone stop. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Very well let's ride out!" All of them took off riding at full speed. The wagons have been ditched for the reason of them being too noisy. And so the injured rode on the horses along with the rest and so did Eren. He peaked out from behind Hange. The chances of success was slim. He more than anyone knew that. But for the sake for his family, he kept it to himself. He stole a glance back to his brother. He could tell he was worried despite his expression.

They started to near the hoard and the group started slowing down. Luckily it rained a bit during the night causing the ground to be soft and wet and also lessening the chances of the titans waking up. Slowly they trudged amongst the titans. Most held their breath as they passed the giant slumbering beasts. So far everything was going well. They were almost through.

And of course, that is when everything went to hell ** _.(A/N: remember how I said I love Murpy's law? *insert evil laugh here* D)_**

One of the scouts couldn't hold onto his nerves anymore. His horse shot past the others, scaring their horses causing them to whinny. The titans where awake instantly. The retreating scout didn't even make it out of the hoard. A giant 15 meter titan woke and smashed him and his horse into the ground. (A/N: Sorry! Couldn't think a way around it.) Commander Erwin yelled for plan B to initiate but Eren was far too dazed to do anything. Levi leapt into action, killing titans as he went, Petra and the others following close behind.

But Levi wasn't focused...

It happened so fast, Levi didn't have time to react a titan swept its hand threw the air. It hit him full force, shattering his gear into a million pieces. A sickening crack was heard as he hit a nearby tree, hopefully unconscious. Eren's heart stopped.

"LEVI!"

Eren jumped from the horse, Hange's screams behind him. Rage filled him. He felt the familiar feeling of electricity coursing through his veins...and then everything went RED.

* * *

 _ **IT'S THE LAST DAY OF FREEDOM! TT**_

 _ **School starts again tomorrow, and I am soooooo exited. (note the sarcasm people)**_

 _ **I am a bit of a workaholic so I love learning new things and improving, but in my own way with my own things. I'd much rather work on my manga.**_ _ **Oh well. I don't know if I'll be updating every week like I used too, but I'll try. Grade 11 is going to be buuussyyy!**_

 _ **Please Review!**_

 ** _Until Next Time!_**

 **-Ziixx**

(Updated: 12 January 2016)


	10. Chapter 10: Rogue

_**Before we start this chapter I want to thank someone first.**_

 _ **Last night Blue Eyes Illusionist sent me a review saying that she will pray for our internet problem to be fixed and low and behold this morning the internet worked like nothing happened. Me and my sister was jumping for joy all morning. I am in fact a religious person so I wanted to think her for being so kind.**_

 _ **And while I'm at it the rest of you awesome people too!**_

 _ **On with it!**_

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Rogue**

"EREN DON'T!"

Hange didn't even have a chance to stop him. In a flash of green light and smoke, the world disappeared.

She had to shield herself to not be blinded. A ear-piercing scream shook the surroundings. It brought shivers to her spine. She couldn't help but dread whatever had made such a terrifying sound. When the smoke finally cleared...her understanding of the world turned lopsided.

Where the ten year old Eren once stood was now a fifteen meter high titan. Its emerald eyes burdened with blood lust and hatred. She shivered. _What the-?_

The beast let out another shriek, this time higher and louder than the first. She clasped her ears. Steam rose from its mouth as its eyes narrowed at the surrounding titans.

Then it charged.

The other titans didn't stand a chance.

With a speed and accuracy never before seen preformed by a titan, it ripped them to sheds. Heading for their weak spots every time. Hange simply watched with stunned astonishment. _'_ _What is going on?! Never before had anything like this happened._ **'** Clearly the Titan was intelligent. It fought with skill, using offensive maneuvers that she recognized instantly.

Of course, she should. It was a unique style, something she had seen countless times. A style she had spared against in the past and helped to perfect... Could it be?

...slowly her brain tried to put together the pieces...

* * *

 _"And whose this little guy?" Petra gestured to the Titan teddy in_ _the boy's_ _arms._

 _"This is Rogue! Levi made him for me!" Eren beamed. He held it out for her to see._

 _Oulo sent Petra an 'I told you so!' look, but she ignored it. " Oh I see. Hi Rogue."_

 _He laughed at her and she smiled._

* * *

 _"Aren't you afraid of them?"_

 _"No... Not really. If anything, I hate them more than being afraid of them. I think I've outgrown it, like a child being afraid of a spider. It goes away eventually but the general sense of danger is still there."_

 _Next to him the woman beamed at his answer, her excitement growing by the minute. He turned to her, a seriousness in his voice that an seven year old should not have. "That said, I understand that just keeping on killing them and hoping for the best isn't going to work. That's why you are keeping them here, right? For research?"_

 _Hange grinned. "Correct!"_

* * *

 _"...He's been having nightmares more often lately." The group jumped, startled by the captain's sudden statement._

 _"What Eren?_ _Yeah, I noticed. He's been rather sleepy lately." Gunter agreed._

 _"What do you think he's dreaming about_ _C_ _aptain?" Petra asked, worried for the boy._

 _"I used to think it was the titans. Memories of what happened three years ago-"_

 _"That would make sense. I mean the kid's probably seen some pretty bad stuff." Oulo agreed._

 _"Tha_ _t is_ _true, but I'm starting to think that's not it. Eren stopped dreaming about what happened long ago. Listening to what he says sometimes in his sleep, it sounds as if he's afraid of something else."_

 _Over in the corner Hange sat listening to this. Her thoughts drifting to the boy..._

 _"I think he's just afraid something happens to us. Whether or not we want to believe it. Eren kind of sees us as his family." The group listened intently at the_ _Petra_ _'s words. "We just need to remind him that we're still here for him. No ma_ _t_ _ter what."_

* * *

 _"How would you know this?" Eren's body stiffened. He started_ _r_ _ubbing his arms as if Erwin's question unnerved him. "Um...experience?"_

* * *

 _"So this is why you made him that titan teddy." She gestured to the drawing on the desk. Levi nodded. "He said that that titan wasn't like the rest. That he protected him. I mentioned that in that sense it was a rouge then, hence the name."_

 _She looked back at the picture. It depicted a titan with green eyes and long black hair fighting the other titans. It looked different than the others. Eren drew the other titans to look fat while the other titan, Rouge, was a stick figure shape as if it was more humanly proportioned._

 _"Its probably just something he made up as a coping mechanism. An imaginary friend if you will." Levi reasoned._

 _She laughed, sending him a speculating look. "Like your cleaning habits for you?"_

 _"My cleaning habits has nothing to do with coping Shitty Glasses!" He argued causing her to laugh even more. She stole one last glance at the drawing..._

 _Rouge..._

* * *

Now she found herself staring at that very same titan depicted in the child's drawing. Only this time...it wasn't a few colorful crayon lines on a sheet of paper.

It was real. And it was ripping up the local titan population as a bonus.

 ** _'_** _That's one terrifying 'imaginary' friend._ _'_

The beast, Rogue, let out another screech as if to prove her point, before severing the head of another slightly smaller titan.

She stole one last glance at what used to be a tiny human boy before she willed herself to look away. Eren can take care of himself. They have bigger problems at the moment. She turned to look for the others. They stood near her, blades still drawn.

Frozen in shock.

Almost everyone had seen Eren transform. The surrounding titans' attention had all but been drawn to the rampaging titan, giving them plenty of time to escape, but given the recent events everyone was far to rattled to do anything.

Her gaze shot over to the direction Levi was thrown. Hopefully he was still alive. She found him lying in an awkward position against a tree. Its trunk shattered by the impact of the crash. Thankfully a slight motion of his chest moving up and down indicated life.

If only barely...

Her attention shot to the frozen scouts beside her. "Hay! What are you guys doing?! Go get Levi!"

They immediately snapped out of their daze, jumping into action as soon as the order was given. The group rushed over to their captain's side. Hange following shortly.

As she suspected he was injured very badly, though still alive. Oulo and Gunter reached to pick him up, careful not to hurt him any further. None the less, two dark navy blue eyes fluttered open as soon as they started lifting him. His eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area until they landed on Hange. "Where's Eren?"

"There's no time!" She tried moving him but he wouldn't have it.

"Hange. Where's Eren?!"

"He's over there!" She pointed in the direction of the rampaging titan. Levi's breathing rate increased. "Hange? Is my brother-"

"No! You don't understand that **is** Eren!" She screamed frustrated. He looked at her as if she had gone mad. "Now come on! We have to get out here!"

The two men picked him up and put him on the horse behind Hange, before jumping on their own. The group took off running in the direction of the gate. All while keeping an eye on Rouge.

Levi simply stared in shock at the monster that was his brother _._ _'_ _How was this possible? Eren was always different, but how the hell did he become a titan?!_ _'_

"Levi..." Hange's voice penetrated his thoughts. He kept staring at the rampaging beast "...D-Did you know about this?"

"No...No, I didn't."

Nothing else was said. They just kept riding. Eyes centered at the titan.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 _Eren...What's going on?_

 **-xXx-**

He crushed the skull of another titan. He was tiring out and he knew it. But he didn't care. These things dared to hurt his brother and they where going to pay. He was going to kill them.

Every. Single. **One**!

He kicked a smaller nine meter out of the way succeeding in decapitating it as he did so. In the distance he saw Hange and the others riding away on horseback. He would keep them safe. He would fight until every titan was dead!

Clearly his body didn't agree. He could feel himself slipping. Losing control over his body. The titans where starting to overwhelm him.

He knew, he won't last much longer.

They started chewing at his flesh. He cried out in pain, trying to hold on to the little control he had left.

He had to end this now or no one gets out.

With one final attack he killed off the last of the nearby titans. Their bodies disappearing in bouts of smoke. In his last bit of consciousness he saw the group turn around and race towards him as his world turned dark...

* * *

 _ **Why is these dramatic chapters so hard to write for me?!**_

 _ **I don't get it. I am, along with my family, a dramatic person..whatever.**_

 _ **ANYWAY...I am afraid this fic might be reaching a close. the last chapter of Part 1 is coming up and I honestly don't know if I should write Parts 2 and 3. I haven't even started writing on them yet and that is when the AU starts getting even stronger. If I'm going to write Part 2 I would have to write part 3 as well and this fic might even reach 30 Chapters, but that would mean a view months hiatus between Parts for me to plan and get ahead. (My stories have a tenancy to runaway before I'm finished.) Should I write Part 2?**_

 _ **If you guys want a summery, I'll post it on the next chapter. (since it would be a spoiler otherwise)**_

 _ **I'll put up a Poll for you guys to vote. Otherwise just review. I really need your help to make a decision and get the motivation to continue if I do. The poll will stay up until I have decided. (or you guys have decided for me)**_

 _ **So please Vote! I need you guys to vote. as in now. As in right now. Now! GO VOTE!**_

 _ **TT**_

 _ **Until Next Time!**_

 **-Ziixx**


	11. Chapter 11: Fear

**Oh my gosh you guys don't know how hard it was for me to write this chapter! It took forever and once again...I'm late. My family and I am having a bad month. A WEEK after the internet was fixed, lighting hit our modem. POOF! Internet GONE! AGAIN. Oh and then the roof fell in and I got a depression** **relapse, (that has been dormant** **for four years. Damn it! Why NOW!)...**

 **ANYWAY...**

 **I'm ranting. As I said, damn hard Chapter to write. And the last of PART 1! WAhhh! TT**

 **But don't worry. There's a special surprise at the end.**

 **So...ON WITH IT!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Fear (3 July 2015** )

"He's dangerous! We should have gotten rid of him already!" An angry scout shouted, some shouting in agreement.

"He saved our lives! Is that worth nothing!" Petra defended. "He did nothing to prove that he has any malicious intent towards us."

"Petra's right! Didn't you see the titans attack him!? They just saw him as another human! They tried to kill him!" Gunter joined.

"Your just defending the little beast because you practically helped raise him. All of you! What's to say that he hasn't been playing you from the start!"

"We trust him!"

"Trust!? He said nothing about it! To any of you! Come to think of it, who's to say that Captain Levi isn't a titan too! They are brothers aren't they!" Angered yelling filled the room as more and more where overwhelmed by their fear of the situation. Levi made no move to defend himself. He merely stared into his cup. No where near the world...

"Silence! All of you. That's an order." The crowd was dimmed at the Commander's command. "It is true that Eren's situation has gotten us all rattled. But that's no reason to lose our heads. To tell you the truth both I and Captain Levi knew to an extent of Eren's abilities."

Erwin silenced them before they could start again. "While we did not know how far his capabilities where or whether or not he was aware of them, we did make the judgement call to keep it between us."

The shouting started up again this time regarding the higher ranking officers betrayal. Levi didn't notice. His attention was somewhere else. To be specific a certain small figure hiding in the doorway...

"Eren... I know you're here."

The room fell silent. All attention turned to the small boy who slowly stepped out from behind the door. His entire body was shaking. His breathing was erratic and his eyes wide.

He was terrified. This was plain to see.

Guilt crept its way into the faces of everyone in the room, knowing full well that he had most likely heard most of their argument.

"...Eren-"

Petra tried stepping forward, but he jumped back whimpering. She stopped her advance, shocked by his reaction. They didn't have the chance to stop him.

He ran.

Ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

In the distance he could hear the shouts of his pursuers. Whether these were shouts of anger or fear he didn't know. He was far to upset to care. He just ran and he kept running until his legs couldn't hold him anymore...

 **-xXx-**

The disgruntled members of the scouting legion scurried around the courtyard of the castle. He watched as the chaos ensued. From where he sat, they looked like rats retreating from a fire...

"I thought I'd find you here."

Eren jumped at the sound of his brother's voice coming from behind him. He simply took a seat next to him.

As if nothing happened.

Levi was always good at that. It made the coming conversation all the more dreaded. They sat in silence, both unwilling to start the conversation. Eventually, though, someone had to say something and knowing Eren, that wasn't going to be him. However he's been wrong before. Levi opened his mouth to speak, but before he could Eren's voice broke the silence.

"...it was all my fault.."

"What?"

"It was all my fault." a shaky voice repeated.

"I-if I didn't sneak into that caravan, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have-" He choked, unable to continue his sentence. He hung his head in shame, silent tears streaming down his face. His voice died down to barely a whisper. "Maybe I really am a monster..."

"Hey." Levi grabbed him by the shoulders, stooping Eren's crying and looking him straight in the eyes. "Don't you **ever** say that your a monster. Ever. You will not now nor ever, be a monster .You have nothing to be sorry about so don't apologize. You are my little brother and nothing will ever change that. Understood?"

Wide eyes stared into his own. "You-your not mad?"

"Of course not. I'm confused to say the least. But I can't be mad at you for something that wasn't your fault. I had my suspicions."

"You knew?! But _how_?"

"You were always different Eren. Granted, Titan was not exactly what I expected...but still."

Eren said nothing. His gaze instead drifted back to the emptying courtyard. Levi eyed him out of the corner of his eye. How did it ever come to this? He was never the support giving type. That's Petra's job. But he had to do something. His thoughts flashed to images of red hair, smiling and midnight stargazing. He resisted the urge to snort. Even when they weren't around anymore, Farlan and Isabel always had a way to solve his dilemmas. He turned his head to the first few stars in the midnight sky. "You know... I used to come up here all the time with Farlan and Isabel."

Eren looked up interested. Levi never spoke about things from before the accident. "Do you remember what I told you that day, about what happened to them. How they got hurt?"

Eren nodded. He remembered. How could he forget. The interior will never be the same again after that little 'incident'...

"If we never took Lobov's job to kill Erwin, we would have never left the underground, I would have never joined the survey corps, and I would have never found you. Sure Isabel and Farlow would still have all of their limbs intact, they would have had easier lives, we would still have been a team and Erwin would have been my enemy, but for how long? Our days were numbered and they still are. Everything happens for a reason Eren. You may not understand it now but you will, eventually. For everything you lose, you gain twice as much. That is something that took me a while to learn. There would be no tomorrow without yesterday."

Silence befell the rooftop once again as these words sunk in.

"No regrets..." a small smile crept it's way to his face. "...I get it."

Eren's gaze traveled back to the now empty courtyard. "...Levi? W-what's going to happen to me?"

Levi placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. I won't ever let them hurt you."

Eren smiled and returned his gaze back to the sky. Levi couldn't help but do the same. Not bad for someone who isn't generally supportive.

 **-xXx-**

The room was silent as they pondered his words.

"Are you sure about this?"

He nodded.

"You do understand that if this all goes south, it will be on all our heads."

" **If** this all goes south I will take care of it. If I am incapable of doing so, I will entrust my squad to do what is necessary." Behind him, said squad shuffled uncomfortably, but made no protest to their captain's choice. The commander regarded his most trusted captain with meticulous thought. If this goes wrong it could spell disaster, not just them but the entire survey corps, however if not it could mean a fighting chance against the titans. Especially ones such as the Colossal and the Armored. His eyes drifted to the boy. The anxiety was flowing out of him in waves, yet he held his ground. He had to hand it to him. The kid has some self-control. A crucial element if this is to succeed...

He just had to hope his choice was the right one.

In a flash of grey Erwin drew his blade, yelps of surprise was uttered from the surrounding group at the commander's sudden action. Levi pulled Eren behind him in a defensive stance.

...

..

.

"Here..."

The boy stared at the silver blade held out in front of him in shocked confusion. He looked to Levi for guidance only to see him equally confused. His questioning gaze traveled back to the commander.

Erwin smiled and gestured to the blade. "Take it. You are going to need it if you are going to be one of us."

Erwin watched as the light flooded back into the boy's eyes. The tension in the room dissipated instantly at the calm gesture.

Eren's eyes flicked from the blade to the man and back to the blade again, until he finally took it. Careful not to cut himself again. "A-are you sure?"

Erwin nodded. "Your training starts tomorrow."

He turned to the other occupants in the room. "Hange. Eren will be under your orders from now. You and Levi will be in charge of his training."

"Yes sir!" Hange saluted with a grin. As the occupants of the room moved closer to congratulate the youngest Ackerman, the commander moved to the other. His face turned serious. "You realize what this means right?"

The captain nodded gravely.

"You understand what you must do?"

"I'll begin with preparations immediately." With that Levi left to congratulate his brother.

The commander watched them from where he was standing. The young boy was happily expressing his excitement to Levi. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "May fate shine upon us all.."

Hopefully his choice won't come back to bite him in the future. With that he brushed himself off and joined the rest in their celebration.

He resisted the urge to groan. He's going to have the paperwork of a lifetime after this fiasco.

* * *

 **Good? Bad? I NEED TO KNOW!**

 **I was honestly surprised at the amount of people who have been reading my story lately, and even more so at the amount who wants me to continue sooo...Part 2 here we come!**

 **I don't know when I'll start posting again. I haven't written much yet, though I have finished the plot outline. And you will be pleased to know that there's a good twenty to thirty chapters on its way. I may post OVAs every now and then. just to keep the story alive. Things that never made it to the story.**

 **Deleted scenes if you will.**

 **Such as where's Farlan and Isabel, and Levi's birthday. If there is something you guys wanted to see or you have an idea, PLEASE tell me! Any idea is a good idea...sometimes...hehe.**

 **Anyway, since we are continuing there's a little present I posted as well. But first a few more announcements are to be made.**

 **-Not many people on Fanfiction know this, but I'm a MAJOR Naruto Fan. I would write fanfiction but my ideas are all long term stories and I want to Finnish my baby (this fic) first. However I tend to write down plot bunnies and ideas If I get them and a view days ago I revised that Archive of mine and found some pretty interesting stuff. (I generally love writing interesting plots, and AUs tend to be my thing, though If you guys are interested check at my profile. I posted it there. I have one for AOT too, though I'm still debating on whether or not I'll let it go.**

 **-I wanted to thank the reviewer who pointed out my mistake in the previous chapter. Your awesome.**

 **-Also I recently made a Twitter account for my Fanfiction. If you want to talk or ask me something, feel free to find me at ziixx01.**

 **-Thank you guys for all your unending support! I adore you all!**

 **NOW GO SEE YOUR SURPRISE! GO! YOU HUMAN...THINGAMABOBS!**

 _(updated: 19 February 2016)_


	12. Surprise!

**TEASER CHAPTER! YAY!**

* * *

"Two ten meters approaching from the left hand side!"

"Indicate evasive maneuvers now!" The nearest scout narrowly evaded death by giant rampaging abnormal. It screamed in frustration and sped up. Its twelve meter companion following close behind. Erwin cursed at their misfortune. He turned to his two most capable warriors.

"Go! Take care of it!"

Without as much of a beat of hesitation the two took off with practiced precision. One of the Beasts snarled and snapped at the smallest scout, but he dodged and slashed open its jaw while the other assailant made quick work of its legs- successfully causing it to fall over and expose it nape in the process. The smaller scout took the chance to finish it off. However the bigger twelve meter had caught up to them. The scout made a back flip in order to avoid another attack from the first Beast.

"Haha! Nice try Fish Face!" He laughed. It snapped at him again causing him to jump back and land in a tree. His colleague called to him from behind the titan.

"Eren don't lose your focus!"

The young boy smiled and rolled his eyes-jumping out of the way just as the titan's hand came down on the tree. "Yeah, yeah I know. I know."

Using his 3D-Maneuverability gear, he jumped onto of the monster's head, trusted his blades into its nape and ran down its back, cutting it all the way down- leaving one big gash where its spine used to be. All of this happened in a few seconds. The Beast shrieked in pain and rage, but fortunately couldn't find its feet, it fell to the ground dead at his feet. Levi casually landed next to him-staring at the dead titan in disgust...

"Your getting good."

Eren grinned. "I learn from the best."

Levi mentally rolled his eyes at the twelve year old. "That may be but your getting reckless. Don't get cocky Ackerman."

"Yeah whatever." He replied already bored with the situation, Levi punched him in the shoulder. "Ow! Hay! What was that for!?"

"I thought your smart. You figure it out wise ass." With that Levi jumped on his horse and took off in the direction of the others. Eren grinned and followed his captain.

* * *

 **HEHE That's all you get! SOOOORRRYYY! I'm so mean...**

 **A nice little preview of Part 2. How was it? Exited? Let me know! PLEEEASSSEEE!**

 **Unfortunately,** **its going to be a while... so truly I hope I get to hear from you guys again. So until then...**

 **DATTEBAYO!**

 ** _-Ziixx_**

 _(updated: 19 February 2016)_


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